Survivor's widow recounts his day of 'infamy'

Published: Friday, December 7, 2012 at 5:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, December 7, 2012 at 7:04 a.m.

DELAND — The earth shook. Edward R. “Tommie” Thompson ditched his breakfast and, with three friends, jumped into a car.

Facts

Remembrance Day Ceremony

The Veterans Community Education Partnership for West Volusia will conduct a Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day Ceremony at 1 p.m. Friday at the Orange City Veterans Memorial Park at the northeast corner of U.S. 17-92 and East Blue Springs Avenue. To mark the start of Americans entry into World War II, the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, by Japan, Gov. Rick Scott is asking Floridians to fly their flags at half staff on Friday.

Thompson, a civil servant, was on the Hawaiian island of Oahu helping to build what was to become Hickam Air Force Base. In Pearl Harbor, several U.S.battleships, cruisers and destroyers were under attack by Japan

"They did see the smoke," Ann Thompson, his widow, said Wednesday at her DeLand home. "They thought something mechanical had gone wrong, caused an explosion."

Seventy-one years ago, more than 80,000 U.S. service members were surprised by the Sunday morning attack by Japanese bombers aiming to cripple the United States' Pacific fleet. More than 2,000 U.S. troops were killed on Dec. 7, 1941, a day that remains associated with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's chosen word, "infamy."

Largely now, the job of retelling stories from that day is falling to relatives of the survivors, such as Ann Thompson, 72, whose husband died at 90 on Aug. 19.

Due to the dwindling number of survivors, the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association disbanded at the end of last year.

Sandra Sikes, Florida chairwoman of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors, said about a decade ago, she was aware of 47 survivors in the northeast Florida area.

"Now, there's only about nine or 10," she said.

Duane Reyelts, a St. Augustine survivor who was the last state president of the survivors' group, said he wasn't sure if any survivors remain in Volusia and Flagler counties.

Reyelts, now 90, was then a 19-year-old Iowa farm boy serving on the U.S.S. Oklahoma. He was sleeping after being on a watch from midnight to 4 a.m., when the first bombs began falling.

Duty-bound, he rushed to his battle station at the ship's stern. The Oklahoma had been hit and was turning bottom-side up.

"I wasn't quite as big as I am now," Reyelts said. "I escaped through a port hole as the ship was turning over. I jumped into the water."

After surviving a 30-foot jump into the Pacific, Reyelts swam to another ship, the Maryland. Pearl Harbor was only the start of the action for him.

"It changed me a lot," he said. "I went on a destroyer. I was in just about every battle in the Pacific during World War II."

That included being on an escort ship when the U.S.S. Lexington was sunk in the Coral Sea off the coast of Australia in May 1942. Later a typhoon blew so hard, it leaned his ship so far that it bent the mast into the water, he said.

"It just doesn't seem like it was that long ago," Reyelts said.

In DeLand, Tommie Thompson wasn't shy about telling his story, his widow said.

Ann Thompson was married to Tommie for 21 years after his first wife, Cecilia, died in 1987. He often talked about how much he had seen in his lifetime, she said.

On the day of the attack, he and his friends left Hickam Air Force Base to see what was causing all the smoke. As they drove, another line of Japanese attack planes swept over them, pelting their car with tracer bullets.

"They knew something awful was happening," she said.

He returned to the base to secure it and assist with a defense effort, but it was largely fruitless. "It was such a surprise and Hickam wasn't complete . . . getting up a defense was so nil."

Just like that, the United States entered the fray and Tommie Thompson would return to the Army.

He spent much of World War II training to become a pilot with the U.S. Army Air Corps and during the Korean War, he flew transport planes, leading to a military career that stretched into the 1960s. He retired a major and was proud of not just his service, but the code he and his fellow servicemen lived.

“As a person, he was tremendous. He was an asset. But the history is gone,” Ann Thompson said. “It was a loss of history, something you'll never get back.”

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the types of ships attacked by Japan in Pearl Harbor. There were battleships, cruisers, destroyers and others, but no carriers. Also, the story should have said that one of the survivors, Duane Reyelts, jumped into the harbor waters, not the Pacific.

<p>DELAND &mdash; The earth shook. Edward R. “Tommie” Thompson ditched his breakfast and, with three friends, jumped into a car. </p><p>Thompson, a civil servant, was on the Hawaiian island of Oahu helping to build what was to become Hickam Air Force Base. In Pearl Harbor, several U.S.battleships, cruisers and destroyers were under attack by Japan</p><p>"They did see the smoke," Ann Thompson, his widow, said Wednesday at her DeLand home. "They thought something mechanical had gone wrong, caused an explosion." </p><p>Seventy-one years ago, more than 80,000 U.S. service members were surprised by the Sunday morning attack by Japanese bombers aiming to cripple the United States' Pacific fleet. More than 2,000 U.S. troops were killed on Dec. 7, 1941, a day that remains associated with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's chosen word, "infamy." </p><p>Largely now, the job of retelling stories from that day is falling to relatives of the survivors, such as Ann Thompson, 72, whose husband died at 90 on Aug. 19. </p><p>Due to the dwindling number of survivors, the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association disbanded at the end of last year. </p><p>Sandra Sikes, Florida chairwoman of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors, said about a decade ago, she was aware of 47 survivors in the northeast Florida area. </p><p>"Now, there's only about nine or 10," she said. </p><p>Duane Reyelts, a St. Augustine survivor who was the last state president of the survivors' group, said he wasn't sure if any survivors remain in Volusia and Flagler counties. </p><p>Reyelts, now 90, was then a 19-year-old Iowa farm boy serving on the U.S.S. Oklahoma. He was sleeping after being on a watch from midnight to 4 a.m., when the first bombs began falling. </p><p>Duty-bound, he rushed to his battle station at the ship's stern. The Oklahoma had been hit and was turning bottom-side up. </p><p>"I wasn't quite as big as I am now," Reyelts said. "I escaped through a port hole as the ship was turning over. I jumped into the water." </p><p>After surviving a 30-foot jump into the Pacific, Reyelts swam to another ship, the Maryland. Pearl Harbor was only the start of the action for him. </p><p>"It changed me a lot," he said. "I went on a destroyer. I was in just about every battle in the Pacific during World War II." </p><p>That included being on an escort ship when the U.S.S. Lexington was sunk in the Coral Sea off the coast of Australia in May 1942. Later a typhoon blew so hard, it leaned his ship so far that it bent the mast into the water, he said. </p><p>"It just doesn't seem like it was that long ago," Reyelts said. </p><p>In DeLand, Tommie Thompson wasn't shy about telling his story, his widow said. </p><p>Ann Thompson was married to Tommie for 21 years after his first wife, Cecilia, died in 1987. He often talked about how much he had seen in his lifetime, she said. </p><p>On the day of the attack, he and his friends left Hickam Air Force Base to see what was causing all the smoke. As they drove, another line of Japanese attack planes swept over them, pelting their car with tracer bullets. </p><p>"They knew something awful was happening," she said. </p><p>He returned to the base to secure it and assist with a defense effort, but it was largely fruitless. "It was such a surprise and Hickam wasn't complete . . . getting up a defense was so nil." </p><p>Just like that, the United States entered the fray and Tommie Thompson would return to the Army. </p><p>He spent much of World War II training to become a pilot with the U.S. Army Air Corps and during the Korean War, he flew transport planes, leading to a military career that stretched into the 1960s. He retired a major and was proud of not just his service, but the code he and his fellow servicemen lived. </p><p>“As a person, he was tremendous. He was an asset. But the history is gone,” Ann Thompson said. “It was a loss of history, something you'll never get back.”</p><p><i>Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the types of ships attacked by Japan in Pearl Harbor. There were battleships, cruisers, destroyers and others, but no carriers. Also, the story should have said that one of the survivors, Duane Reyelts, jumped into the harbor waters, not the Pacific.</i></p>